A Psalm of Life 生命礼赞 读后感
A Psalm of Life —— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
This poem is the first English poem introduced to China, even earlier than the poems of Shakespeare and Dante.
This is a lyric poem. In the first person narration, the poet inspires us and himself that we should act all the way, never stop, and always be positive. In the poem, I like these lines below especially:
But to act, that each tomorrow
Find us farther than today
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
A person may die but his or her spirit will not. We can make ourself sublime. So long as we work actively and diligently, we can be better than yesterday. This poem of Longfellow is filled with the spirit of optimism. The style is concise pure, and full of philosophy.
Longfellow uses iambic tetrameter and alliteration. Such as “For the soul is dead that slumbers”, “And the grave is not its goal”. He also uses metaphor and simile. “In the bivouac of life ”, here the poet uses metaphor, and compares “Life ” to “bivouac ”. “Be not like dumb, driven cattle ”, here the poet uses simile, and compare “people ” to “dumb, driven cattle”.
The poem was written in such period: Longfellow’s first wife died in 1835, and his courtship of a young woman was unrequited. Faced all the frustrations, he did not give up, but was optimistic. And then this poem was born.
I like this poem.